On His Blindness (Part – C)

Summary of this poem.
At the beginning the poet is worried that he has become blind before half of his lifetime. He was a religious minded
man, and he believed that God had gifted him the poetic talent to serve Him through writings. His poetic talent has
become useless, though his soul is more bent to serve God. He fears that if he does not serve Him, He (God) will
chide him. It says that God does not need either His own gifts or man’s service. God’s state is kingly. Thousands of
angels’ speed over land and ocean without rest at His bidding. So, Milton assures himself that he is not sinning by
falling to work for truth. The ending line of the sonnet gives us the moral that “They also serve who only stand and
wait”.
The central theme of this poem.
The central theme of the poem is the inner conflict in the mind of a man. This poem shows the poet’s inner conflict
who had wished to do his best to serve God by his writings. But he couldn’t complete that because he became blind
at a very early of his life. The poet was a religious man, and he firmly believed that God had given him the poetic
talent to serve Him through writings. When he became totally blind, he felt a sense of guilt that God will give him
severe punishment for his failure to do the duty assigned by his Master. Then the poet thought that he was not
responsible for his blindness. Rather God was responsible for his sufferings. This sense of guilty created an inner
conflict in his mind.
The tone of this poem.
The poem begins with the tone of lamentation. The poet wonders how his light is spent before half of his life span.
Now he has nothing to do in this dark and wide world. He is very sad to think that his poetic talent that he had got as
a gift from God, will stay unused in his heart and mind till his death. His heart wants now more and more to serve
the purpose of God by the religious writings. But he has no way to write as he is fully blind. This part of the poem
conveys the deep lamentation of the poet.
The sestet carries the tone of consolation when the poet asks himself if God desires full service from a helpless blind
devotee like him. God does not need human service or any gift from a man. God is the king of the world and his
kingdom is all over the land and ocean. He is almighty, he has thousands of angels to obey his order at a quick
speed. The patience consoles the poet saying that the persons who do their duties as assigned by God, and those who
stand and wait with patience serve the purpose of the Creator. In this part, the tone ends with consolation.

Evaluate the poem as a sonnet
The poem is a sonnet. A sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of fourteen iambic pentameter lines intricate by a rhyme
scheme. It’s a Petrarchan sonnet. The Petrarchan sonnet is divided into octave and sestet. Octave consists of eight
lines rhyming abba abba and sestet consists of six lines rhyming cde cde or cdcded. Octave asks a question or
conflict; the sestet tries to give the answer or solution to the problem or conflict. This turning from octave to sestet is
called volta in literary term. Following the Petrarchan form, the rhyme-scheme of the octave is abba abba and that of
the sestet is cde cde. The subject matter of this sonnet is the inner conflict of the poet. A question is raised in the
octave and is answered in the sestet.
So, structurally it’s a Petrarchan sonnet.

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Figure of speech:
In this poem we see the proper use of many figures of speech to express the poet’s grievances and discontent.
We see the use of alliteration in this poem in line two.

“Days and dark”
“World and wide”.

The poet has used metaphor in lines three and four.

” Though my soul more bent,
“To serve therewith my Maker”.

Here, the poet compares his soul to his mind.
The poet has also used personification in this poem to make this poem lively. We see the use of personification in lines eight and
nine.

“But Patience, to prevent,
That murmur, soon replies”.

Here, the patience of the poet has been thought as a person who replies rapidly murmuring to the question of the poet.
The poet has taken help of a paradox as he writes his last line.

“They also serve who only stand and wait”.

This statement is apparently contradictory but it is true in the real sense.
Rhyme Scheme:
This is a Petrarchan sonnet, and accordingly, it follows the Petrarchan pattern of structure and rhyme scheme. The
rhyme scheme of the octave is abba abba which means line 1 rhymes with line 4,5,8 such as, spent, bent, present,
prevent. Line 2 rhymes with 3,6,7 such as, wide, hide, chide, deny’d. The rhyme scheme of the sestet is cde cde
which means line 9(need) rhymes with line 12 (speed), line 10 (best) rhymes with line 13 (rest), and line 11 (state)
rhymes with line 14 (wait).
Show the poet’s position a d attitude in the poem.
The poem is an autobiographical sonnet in which the poet meditates on his own loss of sight. The position of this
poet in this poem is subjective which means the poet himself is the speaker in this poem and he tells about his own
grief and desire. His attitude is of complain and consolation for his loss of sight.
The poet wonders why he has lost his sight and why his world is dark. He does not know the cause of the great loss
he suffered only at the middle of his life. He is a religious man and deeply devoted to his God. He is aware of his
poetic talent and firmly believes that God has given him this gift to serve His purpose. The poet is ready to serve
Him through his writings for religion. But now as he is fully blind, his talent of writing will remain totally unused.
Then he asks God if He expects any service from a blind person like him. Thereafter his patience replies that living
with patience is the best service to God. God is the lord of the universe and he is the king of all kings in the world.
His empire is spread over all land and ocean and He has innumerable angels to serve His purpose. So, he does not
need any human service. The poet should not be worried of his service to his Creator. God is almighty and always
merciful to his creation.

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